It is standard practice to carry bulky items such as skis on a roof rack atop a passenger motor vehicle. Such a rack normally has a lower support rail on which the skis lie, and one or more upper pivotal rails that can be swung down to clamp the skis against this lower rail. Two such racks spaced in the travel direction are provided on the roof of the vehicle secured to the rain gutter to securely hold the skis in place. Similar such racks are also used to haul bulkier objects, and are even built right into rooftop containers.
A particular problem with any type of roof rack, in particular ski racks, is that the items held by the rack are easily stolen. Securing the skis, for example, to the rack with a padlock is only a partial deterrent to theft, since it is common for the entire rack to be taken with the objects secured in it.
Accordingly it is standard practice to mount the racks securely by fasteners requiring the use of tool to the vehicle to make theft of the entire rack difficult, so the freight can be locked to the rack. Such an expendient also makes it difficult for the user to put on and take off the vehicle.
A ski rack is known having hasps at the ends of the clamping rails, or even a separate lock cylinder and mechanism on each clamping rail. Such a rack is quite expensive to manufacture, especially when heavy-duty robust locks are employed. In addition opening and closing it is a chore, and the locks frequently freeze up or get fouled, due to their exposure atop the car.